But What We Make (Part V)
Title: But What We Make
Author: hunters_retreat
Artist: surevesta
Fandom: Supernatural/Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Pairing: Sam/Dean, John/Derek, mentions of Sam/Jess
Word Count: 39,000
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Incest, underage
Summary: John Connor sent a simple message across time. His choice changed the history of the world, but it wasn't the only thing he sent across time. For Sarah Connor, he sent a son. For John Winchester he created the perfect partner. For three brothers, Dean, Sam, and JC, he brought a hope that the future could be changed. Because the Winchester boys knew the truth. If there was no fate but what they made, they were gonna go down swinging.
Sam looked up at the farmhouse and took a deep breath. Somewhere inside was either his father or a machine that was trying to kill them. He didn’t like that JC was with them, but he refused to be left behind and he was resourceful enough to get out of anything they tried to put him in so it was just better to include him in the plans.
Cameron - was he the only one that found it odd that JC had started naming the machines? - had been let out of the car about a mile back with Derek. Cameron could make it to the house on her own, but Derek was getting himself set up, sniper rifle ready. Cameron and Derek were their aces in the hole and Sam just hoped they didn’t need them.
He put aside the thoughts of his loss and looked over at Dean. Dean gave him a tight smile but it was meant to convey nothing more than ‘I’m ready, let’s kick the shit out of this,’ and Sam was in total agreement.
“Dad?” Dean called out as they walked to the front door of the farmhouse, Sam and Dean side by side with JC trailing behind them. Sam had the shotgun in hand, but other than that none of them had weapons drawn just yet, but they were all well-armed.
The door was unlocked and Dean just looked back at them, took a deep breath, and opened the door. Dean went in first, of course, but Sam was close behind him. They didn’t expect trouble as soon as they opened the door but Dean pulled his gun as soon as they were in. “Dad? We’re here.”
“What good little boys you are.” The woman, Jessie Flores, stepped into the room, a gun in each hand, one pointed at Sam and the other at Dean. “I knew if Jess wouldn’t bring him to me, Daddy would.”
“Where’s my dad?” Dean demanded. Sam could tell he was barely keeping himself under control. As much trouble as Sam had with their father over the years, Dean still idolized him.
“Oh, sweetheart, don’t you worry about Daddy dearest. It’s your brother that’s really in trouble.”
Behind the woman another figure stepped into the room. She had pale skin and red hair, her body moving in the way terminators did when they weren’t trying to blend into the crowd. Dean took a step in front of JC and Flores’ gun focused on him instead. Sam wanted to smack his brother for being so damn self-sacrificing, putting himself between JC and the weapons trained on him, but Sam was right beside him, shoulders brushing to make a solid wall between their little brother and the others.
Flores laughed. “You think you’re going to stop a T-1000?”
“No,” Dean said with a smirk. “I don’t have to.”
Dean must have seen movement behind them because Cameron came through the door the others had come in, tackling the T to the ground. The whole house shook with the force of their impact and Dean dove forward, knocking into the other woman. She was thrown back but managed to keep her feet but she was running then, out the back door and Sam and Dean ran after her. JC was just a step behind them.
They’d taken a look at the property before they got out of the car and the only thing back behind them was the barn. Sam knew Dean didn’t like heading in without a warning about what they could be walking into so he slowed down once he saw Flores throw back the door.
“JC, stay back just in case she’s got another one of those things hidden around here.” Dean warned.
Sam didn’t snort though he wanted to. If she had another terminator in the barn they were royally screwed. He didn’t want to think about what a resistance fighter was doing working with a terminator but he’d have to worry about that later. Instead he drew his gun and moved to the door with Dean, JC a few steps behind them, just far enough back to keep Dean from saying anything.
Dean went through the door first and Flores was just rounding the last stall on the right side. “You can’t get out,” Dean said as they crept forward. “Make a move to the back and you know I’ll put a bullet in your brain. Just come on out slowly.”
“What makes you think I want to get out just yet?” Flores came back out of the stall but she was dragging someone with her. The woman had long brown hair, straw and hay sticking out of her hair and clinging to the light clothes she wore. They looked like pajamas but Sam had done more than one interview in a mental hospital and he recognized them as the sort of clothes they gave their patients. Flores had the woman by the hair, gun to her temple. Sam didn’t know what she was playing at, but then she pulled the woman’s head upright and Sam gasped.
“Mom?”
“This is how it all plays out. John Connor comes with me and I let Sarah go.”
“No.”
“No.”
“Yes,” JC said, trying to push his way up between his brothers.
Sam grabbed hold of him, leaving Dean to keep his gun trained on the other woman. “No way we’re trading John for Sarah. It’s three against one though. No matter what shot you take, you don’t make it out of here alive.”
Flores smiled. “Maybe. Maybe not. As long as John dies, I did what I needed to do.”
The sound of breaking glass had Sam pushing JC down to the floor underneath him. A bullet hit the wooden wall behind Flores and she jumped back. The distraction gave Sarah the moment she needed and she drove up with her elbow, dislodging Flores’ hold on her. She dove out of the way even as Flores made a run for back door. Dean was running forward for Sarah, firing at the other woman as she ran out of the barn.
Sam heard more shots but there was plenty of cover in the trees that lined the property and he didn’t think Derek would get another chance to reposition himself now that Flores knew they had someone else out there.
Sam was up then, moving towards Sarah and JC was with him. Dean waited until they were with her before sprinting out the door himself.
“John? John, are you okay?”
“Mom, I’m alright. Are you? What happened to you?”
Sarah sat up then and pulled JC into her arms, silencing any words. The back door opened and Sam moved between JC, Sarah, and the door.
“JC, can you get her up?” Dean asked as he stalked into the barn.
“Yeah, come on Mom.”
“Sam, the terminators are still out there. We gotta get JC out of here.”
Sam nodded because there was nothing else to do. Sam and Dean, even Sarah, might be worth holding onto for a terminator but their primary target was always going to be John Connor.
“Derek?”
“Already at the car, ready to give us cover.”
Sam nodded as he looked back at JC. Jesus, Sarah. She looked like hell. Her eyes were unfocused and her body was weak. Not just thin but starved. He knew she’d try to get them to leave her behind, she was a liability in this fight and they all knew it, but to his surprise she just let JC help her to her feet.
She looked at Sam and gave a weak smile. “Jesus Sammy, you became a giant.”
He let out a choked laugh, clenching his fingers around the handle of his guns to keep from hugging her.
“We can compare notes later, Sarah,” Dean said from the door. “We need to move now.”
Sarah just nodded but Sam could see the way she looked Dean over as well, as if looking for injuries before heading out into the fight.
Dean went out the door first, JC had his arm around Sarah’s waist and helped her out next, and Sam covered their backs.
“Move it!” Derek screamed from the Impala and Dean had them in motion already. Sarah was slow but it wasn’t a long distance. If Cameron could just keep the T-1000 at bay they could make their getaway.
They were half way to the car when something flew through the wall of the house. They all ducked as the debris flew across the yard. When Sam looked up, Cameron was standing up in the yard and the other terminator was walking through the hole heading straight for the Impala.
“Go!” Sam yelled, grabbing Sarah’s other arm to help JC get her away. Dean opened fire on the enemy terminator and Derek was in the car, starting her up. Sam hoped to god Derek knew how to drive because if they got out of this alive and there was a scratch on the car Dean would kill him.
Cameron launched herself at the other terminator just as Sam and JC made it to the car with Sarah. JC got in the back, pulling his mother in with him. Sam crawled in beside her as Dean opened the passenger door of the front seat. Dean got in, rolling down the window as he took Derek’s more powerful sniper rifle in hand. He managed to hang half out of the car as the enemy terminator made a run for them. He fired and the terminator went down in a flurry of limbs. They were gaining speed and the thing didn’t have a chance at catching up to them. When Sam looked back he could see Cameron running away from the farm, presumably to meet them back at their rendezvous.
There were a few tense moments of silence where they each took a few breaths but Sarah was sitting between them and that was all the time she could give them. “John?”
“I’m good, Mom,” he said, and Sam could hear the pain in his voice from seeing his mother so weak.
“Sam?”
“I’m fine, Sarah.”
“Dean?”
Dean sat up straighter in his seat as he turned to look back at her. “We got a call a few days ago from Dad saying he had a lead on you. We knew it was a terminator so we made plans to attack. John went missing a few weeks back. We thought maybe they were holding him and decided to see. The terminator fighting for us was sent back from the future to protect JC and Sam. This is Derek,” he said, filling her in on the most important information. “Reese, Kyle’s older brother. He came back when a resistance fighter turned sides and came back to kill JC. She tried to kill JC six years ago and we stopped her. A few nights ago, she went to Stanford and killed the girl Sam was living with.”
Sam flinched at the callused way Dean spoke of Jess, taking a deep breath to try to bury his resentment at that. Dean had no reason to like Jessica, no reason to wish her death hadn’t happened except to save Sam the pain of it.
“Are you alright, Sarah?” Report given, Sam could tell Dean wanted a few answers of his own. They all did.
Sarah nodded. “Yeah. I was on a hunt, the ghost gave me hell at the grave site but I managed to get the fire going. I got to the car and had just thrown my stuff in the back when everything went black. She must have hit me in the head with something. When I woke, I was in a mental hospital.”
JC choked at that and Sam really wanted to reach around Sarah to get to his little brother but Sarah just continued on. “They drugged me heavily. I wasn’t strong enough to break free and when I stopped taking the pills they gave me shots. Apparently they were told I was dangerous to myself and others. They’d get the medication in my system and ask me about the future,” she said with a snort. “And of course I was too stoned to lie. She came to see me, about a year back. Said she was keeping me alive for when she found John.”
Dean rolled his eyes. “So she was keeping you around just to use you as bait.”
“Yeah, but she couldn’t find John to tell him.”
“So she killed Jess instead,” Sam finished.
“Sam,” Sarah’s voice was quiet and she trailed gentle fingers up his wrist and curled them between his own. “I’m so sorry.”
Sam closed his eyes against the pain, feeling the others watching him. He felt Sarah pull him close and he went willingly into the arms of the only mother he’d ever had, JC’s coming around both his mother and his big brother.
**
“We need to get you to a hospital,” Dean said, even though he was pulling into the motel parking lot. He’d been trying to talk her into going since they’d pull out of the farm. He tried to talk her into it when JC and Sam were getting their stuff cleaned out of the room and the whole time they’d been on the road to the rendezvous point. Now that they were at the new motel he needed to give it one more shot. They had no idea what was going to happen to Sarah, no idea what had been pumped into her system for years. As much as he hated hospitals, he wasn’t going to risk Sarah’s life on it.
“I’ll be fine, Dean.” Sarah said, a little strength in her voice. “I promise, if I get sick you can take me.”
Dean finally nodded, then got out of the car quickly and made his way up to the motel office. Cameron knew where they were headed and Dean wasn’t worried about her showing up. He trusted Derek to keep an eye on the others while he was away, knowing Sam and JC were too caught up in Sarah to watch their surroundings.
He smiled at the girl behind the counter and flirted until she gave him the two rooms at the end of the motel. He didn’t want anyone to see them carrying Sarah into the room and he had no doubt her strength was already zapped.
When she gave him the keys to the two rooms he made his way back to the others and pulled the car closer to their room. He got out and opened both rooms before going to the back of the car and pulling out their bags. Derek had his own in hand but he had a free hand for a gun if he needed it. Sam and JC were helping Sarah into the first room. Derek took the second key and nodded to the door. “You take care of them. I’ll keep an eye on the door.”
Dean nodded his understanding as he watched Derek disappear into the second room and drop his stuff. He came out, shoulder leaning against the door jam as if he had nothing better in the world to do than just stand there. Dean waited a minute longer until JC and Sam had Sarah through the door before he followed them in.
They set her on the bed and Dean dropped their bags by the door. Sam was propping pillows up behind her back and JC was just sitting there. Sarah watched the two of them, her eyes constantly moving between JC and Sam and occasionally over to him as well. Dean set about salting the room, protecting it in every way he knew how.
He knew what he needed to do next, but neither of his brothers were gonna like this one bit. “Hey Sam, why don’t you and JC go to that diner and round us up some food.”
Sam looked up, ready to argue but he must have seen something in Dean’s eyes. “Yeah, alright. Come on JC.”
“You can grab food on your own.”
“I need an extra set of hands for all that food. Besides, you know what Sarah likes to eat best. You have to help me find something she’ll like that she can eat right now.”
JC looked back at Dean and he must have been shooting daggers because he’d never seen JC change his mind that quickly for anything. Instead of saying anything else, JC and Sam walked out the door.
“You shooing my boys away, Dean?” Sarah asked softly.
Dean took a deep breath as he stepped closer. “Christo.” Sarah just smiled when Dean let out a relieved sigh. “I figured we needed to know what happened to you and you might be more likely to tell me alone.”
Sarah shook her head, eyes filled with pain. “Did John ever tell you I was in a mental institute before?” Dean nodded his head. “This time, Jessie got to them. I don’t know if she paid them or just lied to them but they kept me out of my mind. I don’t know how long I’ve been out, Dean, but it took me a while to think clear enough to try to get away. I was too weak though. She didn’t do anything worse than that, but I haven’t eaten in days. Dean, you’ve got to promise me, you know I’m a liability right now. You can’t let John get hurt because of me.”
Dean shook his head. “There are plenty of us here protecting JC, Sarah. We’ll keep him safe, but I’m not losing you again. You got no idea what those two were like when you went missing.”
Sarah’s lips pulled into a thin line as she looked to the door JC and Sam had walked out. “How are they, Dean?”
“JC’s good. He’s a hell of a fighter. He finished high school and we just took off on the road, hunting. We worked with Dad sometimes, sometimes on our own. Most of the time, it’s just him and me and the Impala.”
“What about Sam?”
Dean ignored the way his heart sped up. “Sam, well you know the way he and Dad always fought. He took off for college as soon as he turned 18. Full scholarship to Stanford.” He couldn’t keep the pride out of his voice and Sarah’s smile grew fuller. “Dad didn’t like Sam going off so it was pretty rocky.” He looked down then because Sarah knew how close the brothers were. “Hadn’t talked to Sam in two years myself. He called a few nights back because Jessie had shown up where he lived, killed his girlfriend. We knew she was after JC so I went to get Sam and JC hid out.”
Sarah’s hand was on his then, the contact warm and far too close for Dean’s comfort. “Thank you, Dean, for taking care of the boys. I can see how strong they are. I know you did that.”
Dean shook his head, scoffing at that. “Sarah, I screwed up seven ways to Sunday with both of them. You shouldn’t be thanking me.”
“John’s alive. Sam’s alive. Considering what we do for a living, that’s saying a lot.”
Dean looked away again but he didn’t have anything to say to that. “Yeah, well… I couldn’t protect Sam from Jessie.”
Sarah’s hand came up, cupping his face and he would have pulled back if it weren’t for the look in her eyes. “I’m proud of how strong you’ve been for them. Thank you, Dean.”
He didn’t bother resisting when she pulled him in close. Instead, he took a deep breath and buried his nose in her hair. He held on for a few minutes and smiled as he pulled back. “How about I get the bath run for you while the boys are gone? I remember how much you used to hate sleeping with grave dirt on you.”
She laughed, seeming to remember she was still filthy from living in the barn for a few days. “That would be great.”
**
Other than a gaping hole where the terminator had gone through the wall, the farm house was still intact. A day after the fighting had taken place found them back again. Derek stared through the window of the deserted house, watching over the yard as Sam and Dean looked through the notes that had been left behind. None of it meant anything to Derek but Sam was looking through everything and after yesterday Dean wasn’t letting Sam out of his sight. Dean wasn’t the type to sit around and deny his responsibilities or Derek would have been doing the recon himself. JC wasn’t going to leave Sarah’s side and it was only at the last minute that Sam came out of the motel to join them. When Dean just stared at him Sam had mumbled something about giving JC time with his mom.
Now, they were just picking up the pieces to see if Jessie had left anything to indicate her next move, or if she really had come into contact with John Winchester. Derek didn’t know anything about the man, really. Dean idolized him and Sam put up with his brother’s adoration. JC seemed to run straight in the middle of that thinking but it was clear the man had a strong impact on all three of the men Derek knew.
“You got anything?”
A couple seconds of shuffling paper and then Dean was standing next to him. “Nothing. If she knew anything about Dad she didn’t have it written down and there’s nothing else really. Just local papers and it looks like a possible list of the drugs Sarah was on. She was apparently making a list of withdrawal complications in case anything went wrong with Sarah.”
“She couldn’t use her as leverage if she got sick.”
“There’s nothing else,” Sam said, coming up beside them. “We might as well take off.”
Dean smirked. “You know Sarah isn’t going anywhere while we’re gone, right?”
“Dean, shut up.”
Derek let out a snort. It was the same banter Sam and Dean went through in the future. “Are we ready to head out then?”
“Yeah, I figure JC has had enough time with Sarah. He’ll need some relief from the mother hen act.”
“You’re the mother hen, Dean.”
Derek moved away from the window then and headed to the Impala. It was odd, after all the years of hearing about the car to finally be riding in it. He could see the way Dean doted on the Impala, how Sam and John treated the vehicle more like a home than a car.
He wished Kyle was there with him, hopping into the back seat. After all the stories sitting there felt a little like cheating to be there without him.
The car ride back was silent. Dean had been awake all night, keeping vigil, and Sam was caught up in his head. Derek was trying not to think too hard about his brother. Or his lover. Or his nephew. He tried to keep the two separate in his head. Derek had been crazy about John but he couldn’t get over his anger at what he’d kept from him. He didn’t know what he’d have done if he’d known - he’d never had a problem with Sam and Dean and it wasn’t like he’d been able to ignore that for more than a few months after they’d joined up - but it wasn’t something John should have kept from him. It didn’t help that the young man they called JC reminded him so much of his older self.
His thoughts came up short when they pulled into the driveway. Cameron was standing watch outside, just where they’d left her. At least John had given her a book and had her sit on the ground to make her sentry duties look less conspicuous.
She stood up when she saw them and walked up to Dean. “You and Sammy should go inside.”
“It’s Sam.”
Cameron turned to look at him and cocked her head to the side for a moment. “Dean said I should call you Sammy.”
“Why?”
“Because calling you Sammy would annoy you.”
Sam rolled his eyes and Derek was smirking.
“Why do we need to get inside?”
“John is back.”
Derek had no idea what that was supposed to mean since they’d left JC with her but Dean and Sam moved past her anyway and Derek joined them. Sarah had a smile on her face as they entered and JC turned around with tears in his eyes. He would have put their emotional dislays off to having found her again but the bathroom door opened and out stepped a strange man. He had dark hair, salt and peppered with a matching beard. He looked worse for the wear but he was smiling as he saw Sam and Dean in the room.
Derek had his hand on his gun, ready just in case.
“Christo,” Dean’s voice was strong as he said the word but Sam was gripping the back of Dean’s jacket in a way that spoke of need. In everything they’d faced together, he’d never seen Sam that needy.
“I’m not a demon, Dean,” the man said.
“I already checked. He’s not a shifter either,” JC said as he went over to the bed and sat down next to his mother.
“Dad?”
“Good to see you boy.” Dean stepped closer, leaving Sam trailing behind and he was wrapped up in the other man’s embrace. Derek moved up until his shoulder brushed Sam’s, unaccustomed to seeing Dean leave his brother like that. It felt wrong.
“Dad, where have you been?” Dean asked as he leaned back. John Winchester wasn’t looking at Dean though. He looked over his shoulder at Sam. His eyes briefly flickered over Derek but he seemed to be letting his identity slide for the moment.
“Sammy?”
“Yes, sir.”
“It’s been a long time.”
There was an undercurrent there that Derek was just beginning to understand. Sam had told him how much he and his father fought, about how hard things had always been between them. He also told him about the fight they had when Sam went to Stanford and John telling him not to ever come back.
“Yes, sir.”
“John, go hug your son before Dean erupts,” Sarah said into the tension.
John Winchester smiled and the tension in Sam’s shoulders dropped. “Come on boy, we know better than to make her wait.” Dean watched the two as they came together and Derek had never seen Dean look content before, but that was what he was seeing.
When Sam started to pull back, John’s hands grabbed his face, holding him there for a few minutes as he looked him over. “Missed you, Sammy,” He said before pulling him back in.
Derek looked away because as much as he considered Sam and Dean family in the future, they didn’t know him like that yet. It felt too much like prying and he suddenly wished he’d stayed outside with the metal.
“Sarah’s been telling me a story while you boys were gone,” Winchester finally said. “You’d be Derek Reese.”
Derek looked up then, nodding at the other man. “Yes, sir.”
“John’s uncle.”
He nodded because it looked like Winchester needed some form of acknowledgment even though it wasn’t a question.
“Just so we’re clear, you hurt my boys, any of my three boys,” he said, as if clarifying something Derek was already aware of, “you’ll be buried before this judgment day of yours ever comes. You got that?”
Derek smiled because - Jesus - the man was a bull dog. “Yes, sir.”
“What’s so funny, Derek?” John Connor asked from the bed and Derek just shook his head. He turned to start for the door.
“I’m gonna go over the maps in my room,” he looked back at Dean though. “Least I know where you got it from now.”
John laughed at that and Sam and Dean shared a fond look between them. Winchester was watching Derek though, maybe trying to figure him out. Whatever Sarah had told them in the time they’d been gone, he was sure he was gonna get a visit from the eldest Winchester to make sure he wasn’t a threat.
Derek kept his door open when he got inside, pulling out the maps to see if there was any obvious place for Jessie to have taken cover at. He was only half paying attention though. He’d heard about John Winchester most of his life. He couldn’t wait to have words with the man behind the John Connor and the Winchester brothers.
**
Dean watched Derek walking out, a smile on his face at the other man’s humor. Derek was far too serious and Dean was glad to have put a smile on his face if even just for a moment. He’d obviously heard about their dad before. Someday soon, when they weren’t on the run from killer cyborgs - and how weird was his life that he could think that without freaking the hell out - he was gonna have to find out what else Derek knew about them.
The door closed behind Derek but not without a glance from Cameron at her post outside. Dean nodded back to her and she just nodded again before the door shut between them.
Dean looked over at Sarah and JC on the bed, at his brother and father still a breath away from touching again. Hell, if Dean made a loud noise he was pretty sure Sam would jump into Dad’s arms. Funny as that might be, he needed some answers.
“Dad, where have you been?”
His dad looked at him and nodded. “Yeah, why don’t you boys have a seat.”
If it surprised his father to see Sam curl up at the head of the bed next to Sarah he didn’t say anything. Sarah let herself be tucked up under Sam’s arm and JC pulled in closer to her other side, sparing a fond glance at Sam before his eyes met Dean’s. There was so much in that expression Dean didn’t know how to answer, but it felt like a promise kept and Dean just took a deep breath, enjoying the feeling of his family together again.
His father grabbed one of the chairs from the table and sat by the foot of the bed and Dean sat on the other bed in the room, needing to be close to Sam.
“JC said you got a call from the terminator,” and Dean had to give his old man some credit for not fumbling over that, “that sounded like me. Seems like the information was right but it wasn’t me calling. I got a lead on the girl. I’ve been tracking her for the last three months. She came to this area often and I knew something was happening here. I lost her trail though when she headed west. I started to make my way back here, but I caught your trail instead. You seemed to be heading this way and I decided it was time to see what made this area of interest. I found her again, with Sarah. I didn’t know what the hell that thing was with her so I was trying to catch up with you boys, get some back up on this one. You got to Sarah before I found you though. I came here today looking to get you boys to help me out. Looks like you did just fine on your own though.”
There was pride in his voice and Dean felt this chest puff up with the praise. “Probably helps we knew what we were up against.”
John nodded. “You boys managed to keep a pretty big secret all this time.”
“John, I’m sure they didn’t know.” Sarah tried cutting in.
“We did.” Sam countered. “JC told us a long time ago. It was your secret though and we understood why you needed to keep it. If something had ever come for us that we thought Dad needed to know, we would have told him, but this is the first time a terminator has been involved.”
Dean tensed because that was normally enough to send Sam and Dad into a fight but their dad just nodded his head in return. He looked at Sarah though and she looked down in shame. He didn’t blame her. That secret wasn’t one she’d needed to keep. The last six years John Winchester had raised JC, made him a part of their family, and he’d never given up looking for Sarah. He’s proved his loyalty in a hundred hunts over the years, before and after Sarah’s disappearance.
“We should probably head out soon,” Dean said, trying to break up the tension. Sam and JC were both wide eyed with the ‘mom and dad are fighting’ gaze and Dean needed to keep them on task either way. Get them all to safety, get Sarah healthy, then she and Dad could go at it like bulldogs.
“I’ll take my brothers. Derek and Cameron can take Sarah’s Jeep and bring up the rear. Last thing we need is Flores and the terminator to catch us just yet.”
“You got something in mind Dean?” Sarah asked as Sam and JC got out of the bed and started packing.
“You know me, Sarah, always got something up my sleeve.”
On to Part Six
Author: hunters_retreat
Artist: surevesta
Fandom: Supernatural/Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Pairing: Sam/Dean, John/Derek, mentions of Sam/Jess
Word Count: 39,000
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Incest, underage
Summary: John Connor sent a simple message across time. His choice changed the history of the world, but it wasn't the only thing he sent across time. For Sarah Connor, he sent a son. For John Winchester he created the perfect partner. For three brothers, Dean, Sam, and JC, he brought a hope that the future could be changed. Because the Winchester boys knew the truth. If there was no fate but what they made, they were gonna go down swinging.
Sam looked up at the farmhouse and took a deep breath. Somewhere inside was either his father or a machine that was trying to kill them. He didn’t like that JC was with them, but he refused to be left behind and he was resourceful enough to get out of anything they tried to put him in so it was just better to include him in the plans.
Cameron - was he the only one that found it odd that JC had started naming the machines? - had been let out of the car about a mile back with Derek. Cameron could make it to the house on her own, but Derek was getting himself set up, sniper rifle ready. Cameron and Derek were their aces in the hole and Sam just hoped they didn’t need them.
He put aside the thoughts of his loss and looked over at Dean. Dean gave him a tight smile but it was meant to convey nothing more than ‘I’m ready, let’s kick the shit out of this,’ and Sam was in total agreement.
“Dad?” Dean called out as they walked to the front door of the farmhouse, Sam and Dean side by side with JC trailing behind them. Sam had the shotgun in hand, but other than that none of them had weapons drawn just yet, but they were all well-armed.
The door was unlocked and Dean just looked back at them, took a deep breath, and opened the door. Dean went in first, of course, but Sam was close behind him. They didn’t expect trouble as soon as they opened the door but Dean pulled his gun as soon as they were in. “Dad? We’re here.”
“What good little boys you are.” The woman, Jessie Flores, stepped into the room, a gun in each hand, one pointed at Sam and the other at Dean. “I knew if Jess wouldn’t bring him to me, Daddy would.”
“Where’s my dad?” Dean demanded. Sam could tell he was barely keeping himself under control. As much trouble as Sam had with their father over the years, Dean still idolized him.
“Oh, sweetheart, don’t you worry about Daddy dearest. It’s your brother that’s really in trouble.”
Behind the woman another figure stepped into the room. She had pale skin and red hair, her body moving in the way terminators did when they weren’t trying to blend into the crowd. Dean took a step in front of JC and Flores’ gun focused on him instead. Sam wanted to smack his brother for being so damn self-sacrificing, putting himself between JC and the weapons trained on him, but Sam was right beside him, shoulders brushing to make a solid wall between their little brother and the others.
Flores laughed. “You think you’re going to stop a T-1000?”
“No,” Dean said with a smirk. “I don’t have to.”
Dean must have seen movement behind them because Cameron came through the door the others had come in, tackling the T to the ground. The whole house shook with the force of their impact and Dean dove forward, knocking into the other woman. She was thrown back but managed to keep her feet but she was running then, out the back door and Sam and Dean ran after her. JC was just a step behind them.
They’d taken a look at the property before they got out of the car and the only thing back behind them was the barn. Sam knew Dean didn’t like heading in without a warning about what they could be walking into so he slowed down once he saw Flores throw back the door.
“JC, stay back just in case she’s got another one of those things hidden around here.” Dean warned.
Sam didn’t snort though he wanted to. If she had another terminator in the barn they were royally screwed. He didn’t want to think about what a resistance fighter was doing working with a terminator but he’d have to worry about that later. Instead he drew his gun and moved to the door with Dean, JC a few steps behind them, just far enough back to keep Dean from saying anything.
Dean went through the door first and Flores was just rounding the last stall on the right side. “You can’t get out,” Dean said as they crept forward. “Make a move to the back and you know I’ll put a bullet in your brain. Just come on out slowly.”
“What makes you think I want to get out just yet?” Flores came back out of the stall but she was dragging someone with her. The woman had long brown hair, straw and hay sticking out of her hair and clinging to the light clothes she wore. They looked like pajamas but Sam had done more than one interview in a mental hospital and he recognized them as the sort of clothes they gave their patients. Flores had the woman by the hair, gun to her temple. Sam didn’t know what she was playing at, but then she pulled the woman’s head upright and Sam gasped.
“Mom?”
“This is how it all plays out. John Connor comes with me and I let Sarah go.”
“No.”
“No.”
“Yes,” JC said, trying to push his way up between his brothers.
Sam grabbed hold of him, leaving Dean to keep his gun trained on the other woman. “No way we’re trading John for Sarah. It’s three against one though. No matter what shot you take, you don’t make it out of here alive.”
Flores smiled. “Maybe. Maybe not. As long as John dies, I did what I needed to do.”
The sound of breaking glass had Sam pushing JC down to the floor underneath him. A bullet hit the wooden wall behind Flores and she jumped back. The distraction gave Sarah the moment she needed and she drove up with her elbow, dislodging Flores’ hold on her. She dove out of the way even as Flores made a run for back door. Dean was running forward for Sarah, firing at the other woman as she ran out of the barn.
Sam heard more shots but there was plenty of cover in the trees that lined the property and he didn’t think Derek would get another chance to reposition himself now that Flores knew they had someone else out there.
Sam was up then, moving towards Sarah and JC was with him. Dean waited until they were with her before sprinting out the door himself.
“John? John, are you okay?”
“Mom, I’m alright. Are you? What happened to you?”
Sarah sat up then and pulled JC into her arms, silencing any words. The back door opened and Sam moved between JC, Sarah, and the door.
“JC, can you get her up?” Dean asked as he stalked into the barn.
“Yeah, come on Mom.”
“Sam, the terminators are still out there. We gotta get JC out of here.”
Sam nodded because there was nothing else to do. Sam and Dean, even Sarah, might be worth holding onto for a terminator but their primary target was always going to be John Connor.
“Derek?”
“Already at the car, ready to give us cover.”
Sam nodded as he looked back at JC. Jesus, Sarah. She looked like hell. Her eyes were unfocused and her body was weak. Not just thin but starved. He knew she’d try to get them to leave her behind, she was a liability in this fight and they all knew it, but to his surprise she just let JC help her to her feet.
She looked at Sam and gave a weak smile. “Jesus Sammy, you became a giant.”
He let out a choked laugh, clenching his fingers around the handle of his guns to keep from hugging her.
“We can compare notes later, Sarah,” Dean said from the door. “We need to move now.”
Sarah just nodded but Sam could see the way she looked Dean over as well, as if looking for injuries before heading out into the fight.
Dean went out the door first, JC had his arm around Sarah’s waist and helped her out next, and Sam covered their backs.
“Move it!” Derek screamed from the Impala and Dean had them in motion already. Sarah was slow but it wasn’t a long distance. If Cameron could just keep the T-1000 at bay they could make their getaway.
They were half way to the car when something flew through the wall of the house. They all ducked as the debris flew across the yard. When Sam looked up, Cameron was standing up in the yard and the other terminator was walking through the hole heading straight for the Impala.
“Go!” Sam yelled, grabbing Sarah’s other arm to help JC get her away. Dean opened fire on the enemy terminator and Derek was in the car, starting her up. Sam hoped to god Derek knew how to drive because if they got out of this alive and there was a scratch on the car Dean would kill him.
Cameron launched herself at the other terminator just as Sam and JC made it to the car with Sarah. JC got in the back, pulling his mother in with him. Sam crawled in beside her as Dean opened the passenger door of the front seat. Dean got in, rolling down the window as he took Derek’s more powerful sniper rifle in hand. He managed to hang half out of the car as the enemy terminator made a run for them. He fired and the terminator went down in a flurry of limbs. They were gaining speed and the thing didn’t have a chance at catching up to them. When Sam looked back he could see Cameron running away from the farm, presumably to meet them back at their rendezvous.
There were a few tense moments of silence where they each took a few breaths but Sarah was sitting between them and that was all the time she could give them. “John?”
“I’m good, Mom,” he said, and Sam could hear the pain in his voice from seeing his mother so weak.
“Sam?”
“I’m fine, Sarah.”
“Dean?”
Dean sat up straighter in his seat as he turned to look back at her. “We got a call a few days ago from Dad saying he had a lead on you. We knew it was a terminator so we made plans to attack. John went missing a few weeks back. We thought maybe they were holding him and decided to see. The terminator fighting for us was sent back from the future to protect JC and Sam. This is Derek,” he said, filling her in on the most important information. “Reese, Kyle’s older brother. He came back when a resistance fighter turned sides and came back to kill JC. She tried to kill JC six years ago and we stopped her. A few nights ago, she went to Stanford and killed the girl Sam was living with.”
Sam flinched at the callused way Dean spoke of Jess, taking a deep breath to try to bury his resentment at that. Dean had no reason to like Jessica, no reason to wish her death hadn’t happened except to save Sam the pain of it.
“Are you alright, Sarah?” Report given, Sam could tell Dean wanted a few answers of his own. They all did.
Sarah nodded. “Yeah. I was on a hunt, the ghost gave me hell at the grave site but I managed to get the fire going. I got to the car and had just thrown my stuff in the back when everything went black. She must have hit me in the head with something. When I woke, I was in a mental hospital.”
JC choked at that and Sam really wanted to reach around Sarah to get to his little brother but Sarah just continued on. “They drugged me heavily. I wasn’t strong enough to break free and when I stopped taking the pills they gave me shots. Apparently they were told I was dangerous to myself and others. They’d get the medication in my system and ask me about the future,” she said with a snort. “And of course I was too stoned to lie. She came to see me, about a year back. Said she was keeping me alive for when she found John.”
Dean rolled his eyes. “So she was keeping you around just to use you as bait.”
“Yeah, but she couldn’t find John to tell him.”
“So she killed Jess instead,” Sam finished.
“Sam,” Sarah’s voice was quiet and she trailed gentle fingers up his wrist and curled them between his own. “I’m so sorry.”
Sam closed his eyes against the pain, feeling the others watching him. He felt Sarah pull him close and he went willingly into the arms of the only mother he’d ever had, JC’s coming around both his mother and his big brother.
**
“We need to get you to a hospital,” Dean said, even though he was pulling into the motel parking lot. He’d been trying to talk her into going since they’d pull out of the farm. He tried to talk her into it when JC and Sam were getting their stuff cleaned out of the room and the whole time they’d been on the road to the rendezvous point. Now that they were at the new motel he needed to give it one more shot. They had no idea what was going to happen to Sarah, no idea what had been pumped into her system for years. As much as he hated hospitals, he wasn’t going to risk Sarah’s life on it.
“I’ll be fine, Dean.” Sarah said, a little strength in her voice. “I promise, if I get sick you can take me.”
Dean finally nodded, then got out of the car quickly and made his way up to the motel office. Cameron knew where they were headed and Dean wasn’t worried about her showing up. He trusted Derek to keep an eye on the others while he was away, knowing Sam and JC were too caught up in Sarah to watch their surroundings.
He smiled at the girl behind the counter and flirted until she gave him the two rooms at the end of the motel. He didn’t want anyone to see them carrying Sarah into the room and he had no doubt her strength was already zapped.
When she gave him the keys to the two rooms he made his way back to the others and pulled the car closer to their room. He got out and opened both rooms before going to the back of the car and pulling out their bags. Derek had his own in hand but he had a free hand for a gun if he needed it. Sam and JC were helping Sarah into the first room. Derek took the second key and nodded to the door. “You take care of them. I’ll keep an eye on the door.”
Dean nodded his understanding as he watched Derek disappear into the second room and drop his stuff. He came out, shoulder leaning against the door jam as if he had nothing better in the world to do than just stand there. Dean waited a minute longer until JC and Sam had Sarah through the door before he followed them in.
They set her on the bed and Dean dropped their bags by the door. Sam was propping pillows up behind her back and JC was just sitting there. Sarah watched the two of them, her eyes constantly moving between JC and Sam and occasionally over to him as well. Dean set about salting the room, protecting it in every way he knew how.
He knew what he needed to do next, but neither of his brothers were gonna like this one bit. “Hey Sam, why don’t you and JC go to that diner and round us up some food.”
Sam looked up, ready to argue but he must have seen something in Dean’s eyes. “Yeah, alright. Come on JC.”
“You can grab food on your own.”
“I need an extra set of hands for all that food. Besides, you know what Sarah likes to eat best. You have to help me find something she’ll like that she can eat right now.”
JC looked back at Dean and he must have been shooting daggers because he’d never seen JC change his mind that quickly for anything. Instead of saying anything else, JC and Sam walked out the door.
“You shooing my boys away, Dean?” Sarah asked softly.
Dean took a deep breath as he stepped closer. “Christo.” Sarah just smiled when Dean let out a relieved sigh. “I figured we needed to know what happened to you and you might be more likely to tell me alone.”
Sarah shook her head, eyes filled with pain. “Did John ever tell you I was in a mental institute before?” Dean nodded his head. “This time, Jessie got to them. I don’t know if she paid them or just lied to them but they kept me out of my mind. I don’t know how long I’ve been out, Dean, but it took me a while to think clear enough to try to get away. I was too weak though. She didn’t do anything worse than that, but I haven’t eaten in days. Dean, you’ve got to promise me, you know I’m a liability right now. You can’t let John get hurt because of me.”
Dean shook his head. “There are plenty of us here protecting JC, Sarah. We’ll keep him safe, but I’m not losing you again. You got no idea what those two were like when you went missing.”
Sarah’s lips pulled into a thin line as she looked to the door JC and Sam had walked out. “How are they, Dean?”
“JC’s good. He’s a hell of a fighter. He finished high school and we just took off on the road, hunting. We worked with Dad sometimes, sometimes on our own. Most of the time, it’s just him and me and the Impala.”
“What about Sam?”
Dean ignored the way his heart sped up. “Sam, well you know the way he and Dad always fought. He took off for college as soon as he turned 18. Full scholarship to Stanford.” He couldn’t keep the pride out of his voice and Sarah’s smile grew fuller. “Dad didn’t like Sam going off so it was pretty rocky.” He looked down then because Sarah knew how close the brothers were. “Hadn’t talked to Sam in two years myself. He called a few nights back because Jessie had shown up where he lived, killed his girlfriend. We knew she was after JC so I went to get Sam and JC hid out.”
Sarah’s hand was on his then, the contact warm and far too close for Dean’s comfort. “Thank you, Dean, for taking care of the boys. I can see how strong they are. I know you did that.”
Dean shook his head, scoffing at that. “Sarah, I screwed up seven ways to Sunday with both of them. You shouldn’t be thanking me.”
“John’s alive. Sam’s alive. Considering what we do for a living, that’s saying a lot.”
Dean looked away again but he didn’t have anything to say to that. “Yeah, well… I couldn’t protect Sam from Jessie.”
Sarah’s hand came up, cupping his face and he would have pulled back if it weren’t for the look in her eyes. “I’m proud of how strong you’ve been for them. Thank you, Dean.”
He didn’t bother resisting when she pulled him in close. Instead, he took a deep breath and buried his nose in her hair. He held on for a few minutes and smiled as he pulled back. “How about I get the bath run for you while the boys are gone? I remember how much you used to hate sleeping with grave dirt on you.”
She laughed, seeming to remember she was still filthy from living in the barn for a few days. “That would be great.”
**
Other than a gaping hole where the terminator had gone through the wall, the farm house was still intact. A day after the fighting had taken place found them back again. Derek stared through the window of the deserted house, watching over the yard as Sam and Dean looked through the notes that had been left behind. None of it meant anything to Derek but Sam was looking through everything and after yesterday Dean wasn’t letting Sam out of his sight. Dean wasn’t the type to sit around and deny his responsibilities or Derek would have been doing the recon himself. JC wasn’t going to leave Sarah’s side and it was only at the last minute that Sam came out of the motel to join them. When Dean just stared at him Sam had mumbled something about giving JC time with his mom.
Now, they were just picking up the pieces to see if Jessie had left anything to indicate her next move, or if she really had come into contact with John Winchester. Derek didn’t know anything about the man, really. Dean idolized him and Sam put up with his brother’s adoration. JC seemed to run straight in the middle of that thinking but it was clear the man had a strong impact on all three of the men Derek knew.
“You got anything?”
A couple seconds of shuffling paper and then Dean was standing next to him. “Nothing. If she knew anything about Dad she didn’t have it written down and there’s nothing else really. Just local papers and it looks like a possible list of the drugs Sarah was on. She was apparently making a list of withdrawal complications in case anything went wrong with Sarah.”
“She couldn’t use her as leverage if she got sick.”
“There’s nothing else,” Sam said, coming up beside them. “We might as well take off.”
Dean smirked. “You know Sarah isn’t going anywhere while we’re gone, right?”
“Dean, shut up.”
Derek let out a snort. It was the same banter Sam and Dean went through in the future. “Are we ready to head out then?”
“Yeah, I figure JC has had enough time with Sarah. He’ll need some relief from the mother hen act.”
“You’re the mother hen, Dean.”
Derek moved away from the window then and headed to the Impala. It was odd, after all the years of hearing about the car to finally be riding in it. He could see the way Dean doted on the Impala, how Sam and John treated the vehicle more like a home than a car.
He wished Kyle was there with him, hopping into the back seat. After all the stories sitting there felt a little like cheating to be there without him.
The car ride back was silent. Dean had been awake all night, keeping vigil, and Sam was caught up in his head. Derek was trying not to think too hard about his brother. Or his lover. Or his nephew. He tried to keep the two separate in his head. Derek had been crazy about John but he couldn’t get over his anger at what he’d kept from him. He didn’t know what he’d have done if he’d known - he’d never had a problem with Sam and Dean and it wasn’t like he’d been able to ignore that for more than a few months after they’d joined up - but it wasn’t something John should have kept from him. It didn’t help that the young man they called JC reminded him so much of his older self.
His thoughts came up short when they pulled into the driveway. Cameron was standing watch outside, just where they’d left her. At least John had given her a book and had her sit on the ground to make her sentry duties look less conspicuous.
She stood up when she saw them and walked up to Dean. “You and Sammy should go inside.”
“It’s Sam.”
Cameron turned to look at him and cocked her head to the side for a moment. “Dean said I should call you Sammy.”
“Why?”
“Because calling you Sammy would annoy you.”
Sam rolled his eyes and Derek was smirking.
“Why do we need to get inside?”
“John is back.”
Derek had no idea what that was supposed to mean since they’d left JC with her but Dean and Sam moved past her anyway and Derek joined them. Sarah had a smile on her face as they entered and JC turned around with tears in his eyes. He would have put their emotional dislays off to having found her again but the bathroom door opened and out stepped a strange man. He had dark hair, salt and peppered with a matching beard. He looked worse for the wear but he was smiling as he saw Sam and Dean in the room.
Derek had his hand on his gun, ready just in case.
“Christo,” Dean’s voice was strong as he said the word but Sam was gripping the back of Dean’s jacket in a way that spoke of need. In everything they’d faced together, he’d never seen Sam that needy.
“I’m not a demon, Dean,” the man said.
“I already checked. He’s not a shifter either,” JC said as he went over to the bed and sat down next to his mother.
“Dad?”
“Good to see you boy.” Dean stepped closer, leaving Sam trailing behind and he was wrapped up in the other man’s embrace. Derek moved up until his shoulder brushed Sam’s, unaccustomed to seeing Dean leave his brother like that. It felt wrong.
“Dad, where have you been?” Dean asked as he leaned back. John Winchester wasn’t looking at Dean though. He looked over his shoulder at Sam. His eyes briefly flickered over Derek but he seemed to be letting his identity slide for the moment.
“Sammy?”
“Yes, sir.”
“It’s been a long time.”
There was an undercurrent there that Derek was just beginning to understand. Sam had told him how much he and his father fought, about how hard things had always been between them. He also told him about the fight they had when Sam went to Stanford and John telling him not to ever come back.
“Yes, sir.”
“John, go hug your son before Dean erupts,” Sarah said into the tension.
John Winchester smiled and the tension in Sam’s shoulders dropped. “Come on boy, we know better than to make her wait.” Dean watched the two as they came together and Derek had never seen Dean look content before, but that was what he was seeing.
When Sam started to pull back, John’s hands grabbed his face, holding him there for a few minutes as he looked him over. “Missed you, Sammy,” He said before pulling him back in.
Derek looked away because as much as he considered Sam and Dean family in the future, they didn’t know him like that yet. It felt too much like prying and he suddenly wished he’d stayed outside with the metal.
“Sarah’s been telling me a story while you boys were gone,” Winchester finally said. “You’d be Derek Reese.”
Derek looked up then, nodding at the other man. “Yes, sir.”
“John’s uncle.”
He nodded because it looked like Winchester needed some form of acknowledgment even though it wasn’t a question.
“Just so we’re clear, you hurt my boys, any of my three boys,” he said, as if clarifying something Derek was already aware of, “you’ll be buried before this judgment day of yours ever comes. You got that?”
Derek smiled because - Jesus - the man was a bull dog. “Yes, sir.”
“What’s so funny, Derek?” John Connor asked from the bed and Derek just shook his head. He turned to start for the door.
“I’m gonna go over the maps in my room,” he looked back at Dean though. “Least I know where you got it from now.”
John laughed at that and Sam and Dean shared a fond look between them. Winchester was watching Derek though, maybe trying to figure him out. Whatever Sarah had told them in the time they’d been gone, he was sure he was gonna get a visit from the eldest Winchester to make sure he wasn’t a threat.
Derek kept his door open when he got inside, pulling out the maps to see if there was any obvious place for Jessie to have taken cover at. He was only half paying attention though. He’d heard about John Winchester most of his life. He couldn’t wait to have words with the man behind the John Connor and the Winchester brothers.
**
Dean watched Derek walking out, a smile on his face at the other man’s humor. Derek was far too serious and Dean was glad to have put a smile on his face if even just for a moment. He’d obviously heard about their dad before. Someday soon, when they weren’t on the run from killer cyborgs - and how weird was his life that he could think that without freaking the hell out - he was gonna have to find out what else Derek knew about them.
The door closed behind Derek but not without a glance from Cameron at her post outside. Dean nodded back to her and she just nodded again before the door shut between them.
Dean looked over at Sarah and JC on the bed, at his brother and father still a breath away from touching again. Hell, if Dean made a loud noise he was pretty sure Sam would jump into Dad’s arms. Funny as that might be, he needed some answers.
“Dad, where have you been?”
His dad looked at him and nodded. “Yeah, why don’t you boys have a seat.”
If it surprised his father to see Sam curl up at the head of the bed next to Sarah he didn’t say anything. Sarah let herself be tucked up under Sam’s arm and JC pulled in closer to her other side, sparing a fond glance at Sam before his eyes met Dean’s. There was so much in that expression Dean didn’t know how to answer, but it felt like a promise kept and Dean just took a deep breath, enjoying the feeling of his family together again.
His father grabbed one of the chairs from the table and sat by the foot of the bed and Dean sat on the other bed in the room, needing to be close to Sam.
“JC said you got a call from the terminator,” and Dean had to give his old man some credit for not fumbling over that, “that sounded like me. Seems like the information was right but it wasn’t me calling. I got a lead on the girl. I’ve been tracking her for the last three months. She came to this area often and I knew something was happening here. I lost her trail though when she headed west. I started to make my way back here, but I caught your trail instead. You seemed to be heading this way and I decided it was time to see what made this area of interest. I found her again, with Sarah. I didn’t know what the hell that thing was with her so I was trying to catch up with you boys, get some back up on this one. You got to Sarah before I found you though. I came here today looking to get you boys to help me out. Looks like you did just fine on your own though.”
There was pride in his voice and Dean felt this chest puff up with the praise. “Probably helps we knew what we were up against.”
John nodded. “You boys managed to keep a pretty big secret all this time.”
“John, I’m sure they didn’t know.” Sarah tried cutting in.
“We did.” Sam countered. “JC told us a long time ago. It was your secret though and we understood why you needed to keep it. If something had ever come for us that we thought Dad needed to know, we would have told him, but this is the first time a terminator has been involved.”
Dean tensed because that was normally enough to send Sam and Dad into a fight but their dad just nodded his head in return. He looked at Sarah though and she looked down in shame. He didn’t blame her. That secret wasn’t one she’d needed to keep. The last six years John Winchester had raised JC, made him a part of their family, and he’d never given up looking for Sarah. He’s proved his loyalty in a hundred hunts over the years, before and after Sarah’s disappearance.
“We should probably head out soon,” Dean said, trying to break up the tension. Sam and JC were both wide eyed with the ‘mom and dad are fighting’ gaze and Dean needed to keep them on task either way. Get them all to safety, get Sarah healthy, then she and Dad could go at it like bulldogs.
“I’ll take my brothers. Derek and Cameron can take Sarah’s Jeep and bring up the rear. Last thing we need is Flores and the terminator to catch us just yet.”
“You got something in mind Dean?” Sarah asked as Sam and JC got out of the bed and started packing.
“You know me, Sarah, always got something up my sleeve.”
On to Part Six